With less than hour to spare, the Senate late Friday backed legislation averting a government shutdown as coal-state Democrats retreated on long-term health care benefits for retired miners but promised a renewed fight for the working class next year.

Appearing jovial and relaxed, Donald Trump plunged back into election politics Friday, a full month after he won the presidency, thanking Michigan voters and prodding Louisiana Republicans to turn out for Saturday's Senate runoff election.

The Trump transition team has a list of 74 questions, asking agency officials to identify which employees and contractors have worked on an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut carbon output.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it will pay $4.5 million to state, local and tribal governments for their emergency response to a mine spill that the EPA triggered, but the agency turned down $20.4 million in other requests for past and future expenses.

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Still grappling with Donald Trump's surprise election, the nation's business community has begun to pressure the president-elect to abandon campaign-trail pledges of mass deportation and other hard-line immigration policies that some large employers fear would hurt the economy.

Andrew Puzder has spent his career in the private sector and has opposed efforts to expand eligibility for overtime pay, arguing that the minimum wage hurts small businesses and leads to job loss among low-skilled workers.